


Smile, Mr. Chilton

by Pink_Disney



Category: Motorcity
Genre: Child Abuse, Gen, Psychological Torture, brain washing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-22
Updated: 2015-04-22
Packaged: 2018-03-25 05:26:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,113
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3798427
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pink_Disney/pseuds/Pink_Disney
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A short fanfic featuring a headcanon on why Mike hardly ever stops smiling in the show.</p><p>Please let me know if I should add any more warnings to the tags. Thank you.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Smile, Mr. Chilton

The room was dimly light and smelled of sweat and blood, yet the cadets all stood at attention with smiles on their faces. They were the Elite. They had every reason to smile.

Another blow to the ribs and Mike found himself on his knees, coughing.

“Are you going to stay down, Cadet?” Sergeant’s voice carried over the room like thunder even though his voice was calm and steady. The other cadets flinched, smiles wavered, but they remained in line. They kept smiling. Some of them were smiling so hard that Mike could almost hear their teeth crack. They had so much to be grateful for.

Mike was tempted to just stay there, on his knees, in this dank and dirty room, and let the world forget about him. That would be nice. To be forgotten for a while. Not to have someone watching his every move. Not to have to work so hard to impress anyone. Just for a while. A short break…

His thoughts mingled with the pain he felt all over his body. Mike could feel warm blood run down his face. He could taste it, a hard metallic flavor. His nerves seem to fire all at once, too much sensation to take in at once. It all gave him a headache so he tried to just focus on one, the sharp stabbing sensation that ran along his sides when he breathed. It was almost enough to make him forget why this was all happening… if it wasn’t lying right in front of him. 

Another cadet. He was beaten so badly that he was unrecognizable. He was lying there, motionless in a pool of his own blood, for such a simple crime. 

He forgot to smile. 

You never forget to smile. What kind of ungrateful idiot doesn’t smile at their Sergeant? That was disrespectful, and if you disrespect the Sergeant you were disrespecting Deluxe, KaneCo, and Kane himself. These were all crimes of the highest order, even if it was a simple one. 

So, when Mike was informed by the Sergeant that his smile had faded during this other cadet’s punishment he resigned to his fate. He hadn’t even notice that he stopped smiling. He wasn’t even aware that anything changed. Mike was transfixed by the spectacle. He never really minded pain before but seeing that cadet get his head smashed against the wall, watching him get kicked over and over again while he laid there, it was too much. Mike wanted to do something. Say something. He just wanted the kid to stop hurting. Maybe that’s why he stopped smiling. By doing so he got Sergeant’s attention. The kid could lay on the floor, in peace. He could have a break.

Well, if he was going to give that boy a short rest Mike needed to stand up on his feet again. So he did, as best as he could. Slowly he stood up. Again. What was this? The third time he was knocked down? 

Oh, did it hurt. Mike bit his lip and caught a painful gasp in his throat. All eyes were on him. All of them still smiling. His fellow cadets were so proud him. He was a shining example to them all. The elite of Elite. They should be smiling.

“I see,” Sergeant grunted. “You want another helping.” Mike let his eyes linger along the ground. Through the gloom he could make out every detail of the room. Ten cadets, four male, five female, one was probably dead, one chair in the corner for Sergeant (the man got tired after all), four bare walls that use to be a nice light blue. They’re looking a little worse for wear now. Mike could hear every shaking breath. Every shift in weight, that shouldn’t happen. He shut his eyes and tried to clear it all out. 

And he smiled. 

“Yes sir…” His voice sounded a little more ragged than he thought it would. It was hard to talk when you were trying not to choke on you own blood. That stuff always had a habit of going down the wrong tube. “I’d like another, sir.” 

The next few seconds was a blur. Or were they minutes? Hours? Oh, it didn’t matter. What mattered was the fact that Mike found himself staring at the ceiling with a blonde cadet staring down at him. 

“How many fingers am I holding up?” The boy frowned deeply. Clearly Sergeant had left. That was the only time anyone ever stopped smiling. It was hard work to keep it up, to be honest. Everyone needs a break once in a while.

“You’re not… Holding…”

“Yeah. I know,” The other cadet interrupted, grabbed Mike roughly by the arm, and pulled him up to a sitting position. Mike’s insides felt like they were flipped upside down now. “You’re a lunatic, Chilton. I hope you know that…” Mike was too busy trying to hold himself together to really comment on that. He did note the bitterness in his friend’s voice though. He needed to hide that better. People might get the wrong idea. “Come on. Let’s get you cleaned up…” The blonde said after watching Mike struggle to get up. He took Mike’s arm and put it over his shoulders, bracing the “elite of Elite” and keeping him steadier on his feet. Mike wished he could remember this kid’s name but he figured that got knocked out of his head and was splatter against the wall the first round. Janice? Jimmy? Jen... something.

“Heh, that’s a great idea…” Mike gave him a sheepish grin. He was content in just knowing that this guy was a friend. It was nice to have a friend. Definitely something worth smiling about. The blonde cadet started walking and Mike did his best to suck up the pain and push forward, still grinning.

“Dude. Sergeant’s gone. You don’t have to force yourself to smile anymore, man…”

There was a long pause where Mike’s grin slowly faded.

“F-force…?” He whispered, his small grin renewed. His friend stopped for a moment, and stared Mike straight in the eye. He looked scared almost. Mike wasn't sure why. Maybe he said something wrong. Oh no! He must have made him worried! Man, now Mike was kicking himself. But then the other cadet smiled a very nervous, shaky smile. An awkward sort of smile that made Mike smile too, albeit a bit more painfully since his face felt like tenderized meat.

“N-nevermind. Just nevermind.” The cadet set the pace again and Mike continued to grin to himself. Today was a good day. He had so much to be grateful for.

He had every reason to smile.


End file.
